1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio equipment and, more particularly, to radio equipment consisting of a portable radio apparatus and a charger for charging it.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a common practice with a portable telephone or similar portable radio apparatus to alert the user of the telephone to a call incoming by an alert tone or the vibration of a vibrator, as desired. The user of the telephone may advantageously select an alert mode using the vibration in a situation in which an alert mode using the alert tone is not desirable, e.g., during meeting, on a train, or in a movie theater.
The user of the telephone can select and set either the alert mode using the alert tone (tone mode hereinafter) or the alert mode using the vibration (vibration mode hereinafter) beforehand. Because call incomings are alerted by the set alert mode unless the user changes it, the user can recognize call incomings in the optimal mode matching with the situation. However, the conventional telephone of this kind has its battery charged by a charger in the vibration mode. It follows that when a call incoming occurs on the telephone while the telephone is set on the charger, the user cannot recognize it because the telephone simply vibrates, i.e., does not produce the alert tone.
To solve the above problem, before setting the telephone on the charger, the user may check the alert mode set in the telephone and, if the vibration mode is set, replace it with the tone mode. This, however, brings about another problem that the user must see the alert mode and then set the tone mode every time the user sets the telephone on the charger, resulting in troublesome operation.
In light of the above, the telephone may be so constructed as to report a call incoming in the tone mode whenever the telephone is set on the charger, as taught in Japanese laid-open patent application heisei 8-126061 by way of example. Specifically, this document discloses portable radio communication equipment including a portable telephone provided with detecting means for determining whether or not the telephone is set on a charger. When a call incoming occurs while the telephone is set on the charger, as determined by the detecting means, the telephone outputs an alert tone in order to alert the user of the telephone to the call. When the telephone is not set on the charger, as also determined by the detecting means, the telephone reports the call to the user by vibration without exception, assuming that the telephone is put on the user's body. Therefore, when the telephone is set on the charger, the user can be alerted to the call immediately by the alert tone.
However, the above portable radio communication equipment has some problems left unsolved, as follows. When the telephone is not set on the charger, it reports a call incoming to the user by vibration at all times. As a result, when the telephone is put on a desk or put in a bag by way of example, a call incoming is reported by vibration despite that it should be reported by the alert tone. This prevents the user from recognizing the call. Moreover, the detecting means built in the telephone obstructs the small size, light weight configuration of the telephone.